


Shenanigans

by Neo_Nebula



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Aerith - Freeform, Barret - Freeform, Chocobos, Cloud - Freeform, Comedy, Costa del Sol, Gen, Humor, Nibelheim, Red XIII - Freeform, Shenanigans, Yuffie - Freeform, ffVII - Freeform, tifa - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 01:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20056027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neo_Nebula/pseuds/Neo_Nebula
Summary: AVALANCHE is at Costa del Sol during their journey of saving the Planet. Despite being in a resort town, Cloud is still acting depressed and uninterested in the fun to be had in town. Tifa, determined to change his attitude, pulls him into an unexpected series of events that result in an interesting night. Will this be enough to cheer Cloud up and satisfy his childhood friend?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Snitewing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snitewing/gifts).

> This was written for the FF7 Fanworks' Exchange '19, my first ever fan exchange! :D I really enjoyed doing this and hope to do more! I was hoping to have more than one entry, but I got a new job this month that pulled at my attention and time. I really hope this gift is enjoyed, though! 
> 
> I haven't play the original game in 8+ years, so it took a bit of research for me to figure out where it was best to insert this adventure. ^^; I think I managed pretty well, or at least I hope so. It was fun to write a story like this and for it to be a gift for someone. Snitewing, I really hope you like it! <3
> 
> Also, I could not get my second gift entry to go through correctly, so I am adding a link to it here! I fulfilled an art prompt for Snitewing as well: https://www.deviantart.com/lost-remnant/art/Aerith-for-Snitewing-808704054

**Shenanigans**

Chapter 1

Costal de Sol proved to not be enough of a retreat for a couple of the members of the party working toward saving the Planet. Despite spending time lounging on the beach in the sunlight, being adventurous with the local drinks at the bar, and shopping for tourist items, they still seemed to need more time before continuing on their journey. While Barret was asleep in his bed at the inn and Red XIII was curled up in the corner of the room dreaming, Cloud sat up in his bed to stare out at the crescent moon. Across the hall, Aerith and Yuffie were sleeping peacefully while Tifa lay awake in her bed staring at the ceiling.   
Tifa sighs as her mind completes the swirls in the ceiling into images of various things, such as people and moogles. She looks over at the clock and feels even more unsatisfied to realize she has been lying there for nearly two hours. She hears Yuffie mumble something about gelatin, so she sits up and scoots herself off of the bed. She goes to the door and slips her boots on, and looks back to make sure Aerith and Yuffie are still asleep in their other bed. Quietly, she slips outside of the room and into the outdoor hallway. As she closes the door behind her and looks ahead, she spots Cloud leaning over the balcony.  
Hearing her arrival, Cloud looks over to see her, his face full of weary. “I guess I'm not the only one who couldn't sleep.”  
Tifa goes next to him and leans over the railing as well. “It's just so stressful. I know we tried to have some fun today, but . . .”  
Cloud shakes his head. “Nibelheim . . . I just can't shake it. Acting like it never happened . . .”  
Tifa looks over the greenery lit up by the moon in thought. “Cloud, how about we have a bit more fun before we go on? I think that would help us.”  
“Not interested.”  
Tifa looks at him with irritation. “You can't expect to save the Planet with that kind of attitude. Come on. Let's at least just get a drink at the bar.” She pushes away from the rail and begins walking down the walk way.  
Cloud sighs. “Fine.” He follows after her indifferently. 

Minutes later, Tifa and Cloud arrive at the local bar, walking inside to see five customers and a single bar tender. Three of the customers are sitting back at tables, looking close to passing out from both sleepiness and drunkiness. The pair passes them by without care and sits on stools at the bar where the other two customers are a few feet away. They wait for the bar tender to speak to them.  
“And what'll it be for you two?” the bar tender asks while smoking a cigarette.  
“I'll have a dry martini,” Tifa answers happily.  
“A cassis,” Cloud says in a depressed tone.  
“Coming right up.” The bar tender turns to make their drinks.  
Tifa looks over at Cloud and frowns with annoyance. “Can you sound any more depressed?” She gets no reaction from him, so she growls. “Seriously, Cloud. We're at a vacation resort town and that's your attitude?”  
“Not interested,” he says in the same voice.  
Tifa sighs. “This is the kind of attitude you want to spread while trying to save the Planet?”  
“Don't really care.”  
Tifa shakes her head. “Nope. I'm not letting you go back to the hotel until you stop moping.” She sees him turns his head toward her. “Just imagine: you save the Planet and kids want to be like you. Kids would want to brood and say things like 'Don't really care'. Just think about that for a minute.”  
Cloud's drink is set down in front of him so he picks it up and takes a drink. He puts it back down and stares it while saying, “Don't really care.”  
Tifa is so frustrated she wants to pull her hair out. Her drink is put in front of her, so she grabs it and violently drinks it all the way down quickly. She slams the glass back on the counter and yells, “I'll have a double!”   
Cloud looks over at her with a slight expression of anxiety, finally pulling out of his sad demeanor just a little. He takes another drink while staring at her. He sees that her hand on the counter is tightened into a fist. “Tifa, you saw what Nibelheim was like. All that pain . . . all that destruction . . . they're just covering it up like it never even happened.” He shakes his head. “But it ** did ** happen. I remember it.”  
Tifa takes a deep breath and sighs. “You and I are going to have a long night. I'm not going to let you dwell on the bad stuff when there's so much fun to be had.”  
“I'm just being real. I don't see the big deal,” Cloud responds.  
Tifa scoffs. “The ** big deal ** is you're dragging everyone down! And I knew you as a kid! You were always up for some fun! I have to make sure I bring the real Cloud back, and not let your bad attitude become contagious!”  
Cloud simply sighs, and Tifa's next drink arrives in front of her. Once again, she drinks it down quickly. Cloud watches with worry, afraid of what kind of trouble Tifa is going to pull him into.   
“I'm going to show you such a good time you won't even remember about Nibelheim!” Tifa exclaims triumphantly. 

Nearly an hour later, Cloud walks out of the bar with an uneasy look on his face. Just behind him comes Tifa, wobbling and giggling a little. He leads her in the direction of the inn, the path being lit by outdoor lamps.   
“What? Where do you think you're taking us?” Tifa asks with a smile.  
“We should go back to bed. Besides, you're drunk.”  
“What? I'm not drunk! I own my own bar! I know how much I can handle, and I'm definitely not drunk!” she argues.  
Cloud shrugs. “Well, it's really late. We should get some rest for tomorrow.”  
“Not until I've shown you an amazing time!” Tifa reminds. She stops and grabs Cloud by the arm, stopping him as well. She glances around in the dark and hears the sound of the ocean waves. She smiles again and pulls on Cloud's arm as she runs in the direction from which the sound is coming. “The beach! You can't ** not ** have fun at the beach!”  
Cloud grunts as Tifa pulls him while running to the sandy area. “Tifa, we already went to the beach today!”  
Tifa giggles as she and Cloud arrive at the shore. There is no one there, but the area is visible thanks to some more outdoor lights. She looks around the area excitedly, looking for something to do. She sees a beach ball and approaches it. As she leans over to pick it up, an image is caught in the corner of her eye. She turns toward the water to see what it was, and she sees a dolphin.   
“Tifa, come on. We can come back to the beach in the morning. It's dangerous at night,” Cloud tells her with a bit of worry.  
“A dolphin!” She exclaims, ignoring him. She watches as the dolphin swims closer to the beach. “Dolphin . . .” Tifa repeats, and gets into a fighting stance. “Dolphin Blow!”   
As Cloud reaches a hand out and screams, “Nooooooo!” as if in slow motion, Tifa performs her limit break. He watches in shock as Tifa unleashes her powerful attack on the water. She misses the real dolphin, but hits what appears to be a huge rock instead. Cloud, relieved but frustrated, gets a hold of both of Tifa's arms from behind.   
“Come on, before you hurt someone,” he tells her gently.  
“Hurt someone? I'm just playing with a dolphin!” she tells him.  
Cloud feels a harsh tremble beneath him and looks toward the rock that Tifa had hit.  
“You should try riding it, Cloud! It would be so funny to see you on a dolphin!” Tifa continues, paying no mind to the tremor.   
Cloud, still staring at the rock, realizes as a head and legs pop out of it that it is in fact an adamantaima. “Uh, Tifa.” His hand are now loosely on her arms as he stares at the fiend with fear.  
“What? You're still not enjoying yourself?!” she complains.  
“Tifa.”  
“I spend all that gil at the bar and even drink a little too much to try to get you to loosen up and have fun, and you are ** still ** not laughing?!” She is turned toward him now while he has his hands to himself.  
“Tifa!”  
The adamantaima stomps right next to the couple, sending them flying from the quake it produces. Tifa lands on her back and slides several feet, destroying a sandcastle. The adamantaima roars while moving its head around, visibly upset from her attack.   
Tifa gets to her feet and gets back into her attack position, knees bent and fists up, while eyeing the adamantaima. There is a glowing aura around her, indicating her limit break is charged. She suddenly seems as if her tipsy state is gone as she stares with a burning determination at the massive creature. Just before she launches into an assault, she hears scuffling and moaning. Cautiously, she looks to her side to see the source of the noise.  
Focusing her eyes in the dim light, she sees that Cloud has landed in a sand dune with his head down to his rips stuck in it. He is trying to push himself out with his legs, his arms stuck in the sand. Tifa looks back at the enemy, seeing that it looks ready to release an attack. She gasps and runs toward Cloud. She grabs him by the waist and begins pulling with all of her might, grunting while she struggles.   
“Come on, come on!” Tifa groans, pulling as hard as she can, feeling Cloud coming loose slowly. She looks again at the fiend with worry, seeing it drawing its head back to attack. Adrenaline coursing through her body, along with alcohol, she pulls so hard that he pops out of the wet dune and lands on top of her in the sand while the beam shot from the adamantaima shoots through the dune, narrowly missing them.  
Cloud rolls off of Tifa swiftly and helps her to her feet. “Thanks,” he tells her as he reaches for his sword on his back. He inhales with enlarged pupils as he feels no sword, realizing he had left it in the hotel room. He looks to his right to see Tifa ready for an attack. He looks around in panic, feeling useless and looking for something to fight with.   
Tifa rushes at the huge creature again and punches and kicks it in the head a few times, making it roar. As it moves for an attack, she dodges and lands a counter kick to the top of its head. It swings it head, hitting her and sending her flat on her back with a thud. She jumps up, dodging its next swing, and releases a series of punches. She jumps back and unleashes her somersault limit break. This stuns it for just a moment, so she runs back toward Cloud, who had been watching in awe. She grabs him by the arm again and runs with him away from the direction of the beach and toward the inn. Breathing hard from the fighting and running, she manages to get him to the stairs of the inn when she stops. She reaches into her pocket and finds it empty.  
“Huh?!” she asks in panic. She reaches into her other pocket with the same result. “My key!” She shakes her head. “I left it in the room!” She looks at Cloud now. “Please tell me you have yours!”  
Cloud shrugs dramatically. “I was just getting some air, and Barrett wasn't fully asleep. Didn't think I'd need it.”  
“Ugh!” she growls loudly. She gasps as she sees the fiend approaching, so she grabs Cloud again and runs with him past the inn and toward the entrance of the town. She runs with him until they are outside of the area and into the woods.   
Cloud grunts as Tifa runs quickly through the woods, being pulled into branches that she dodges before him. He stumbles as he tries to keep up, trying to keep from slamming his face into a tree trunk and struggling to keep up with her quick pace. After a few manic moments, he is pulled behind a huge tree and released.  
Tifa stops and looks around frantically. “I don't see any sign of it,” she declares.  
Cloud heaves as he tries to regain his breath. “No . . . I think we got away.” He hears Tifa sigh. “Tifa . . . how did you sober up so quickly?”   
“With my limit break.”  
Cloud looks at her with confusion. “Your limit break cures you of being tipsy?”  
“Haven't you ever gone into a limit break after you've been drinking? Yeah, it's the only way to sober up quickly!”   
“Nope. Never knew that.”  
“Well, a perk of being a bar owner, I guess.” Tifa now looks around again, shrugging off the conversation. She sees green all around and sighs. “Hmm. Isn't Nibelheim close by? Maybe we could crash there for the night.”  
“Good idea,” Cloud agrees. Suddenly, he hears something moving up in the tree they are standing next to, so he looks up suspiciously while tensing up. He looks, but sees nothing.  
“What was that?” Tifa asks, also looking up at the source of the sound.  
“I don't know, but I say we hurry up and get out of here,” he replies. 

Twenty minutes pass with Cloud and Tifa wandering through the woods. Cloud is dirty and has leaves in his spiky hair while walking with the accompaniment of a walking stick. Tifa has mud streaked underneath her eyes in a warrior fashion and has wild flowers in her hair. They both freeze simultaneously as they see what appears to be the end of the woods.  
“Is that . . . the way to Nibelheim?” Cloud asks as if he has been on a deserted island for four years.  
“Yes! Yes, it must be!” Tifa cheers. She looks over at her companion now. “Come on!”   
Just as Tifa dashes toward the clearing up ahead, she comes to a sliding halt as something huge and yellow streaks across in front of her. She turns to see it was an adult chocobo. She turns to her other side as she sees Cloud stop next to her. She shakes her head as if to get it out of her mind, and now begins running again. This time, she runs directly into a green chocobo, knocking her down on her bottom on the ground.  
“Ugh!” Tifa complains. She looks up and sees the chocobo is staring down at her unpleasantly. Cloud helps her up and the two stare at the giant bird questioningly.   
“Wark!” the chocobo exclaims.  
“Uh, we need to get by,” Cloud tells it.  
Tifa huffs, irritated. She attempts to walk around it, but it moves and blocks her. She now tries going around it the other way, and once again, it blocks her. “Get out of our way!” She kicks the chocobo in the rear, causing it to jump and cry out. She now passes it and continues onward to the exit of the woods with Cloud following.  
Cloud looks behind them cautiously and sees the chocobo flapping and warking. “Uhh, Tifa.” He drops his walking stick.  
“Hurry up!” Tifa tells him, getting him by the arm again.   
The chocobo suddenly releases an ear-piercing wark and accelerates toward them in anger. Hearing the sounds of the incoming attack, Cloud and Tifa yell and sprint toward the exit of the woods, not looking behind them from fear of slowing down. The go as quickly as possible in a state of panic, exiting the woods, but still hearing the flapping of wings, pounding of feet, and warking of the huge chocobo behind them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! Will Tifa and Cloud survive the chocobo attack? Will Tifa succeed in making Cloud happy, rather than just making him run for his life? XD Will they ever get any sleep? Please read to find out!

**Shenanigans**

Chapter 2

Tifa and Cloud are running at full speed in the direction of Nibelheim. They are heaving as the chocobo advances on them, able to run faster. Cloud wishes again that he had brought his sword to resolve the problem, and Tifa wishes she had been more patient with the chocobo instead of hitting it in a quick attempt to resolve the problem. They continue their running, but Tifa begins slowing down from exhaustion.  
“We . . . we're not . . . gonna make it!” Tifa exhales as she begins falling behind Cloud.  
“We're almost there!” Cloud informs encouragingly.  
“Wark!” The chocobo squalls with its head down as it continues catching up to them.   
Tifa looks back while running to see the status of the chocobo. Unfortunately, her boot hits a large rock, causing her to yelp as she falls forward on the ground. Seconds later, the obtuse foot of the chocobo squashes into Tifa's back, causing her to jerk and yelp again.   
Cloud slows down suddenly upon hearing Tifa's yells, earning him a headbutt to his lower back by the green chocobo. He yells out as he is tossed into the air and lands on the chocobo's back. He holds onto it as tightly as he can while it warks and continues running toward Nibelheim.   
Slowly and with pain, Tifa rises to her feet from the grass. Her clothes are dirty, her back is aching, and she is finally feeling exhausted. She looks ahead, seeing the large green bird disappearing from view into the town. She begins walking slowly in the same direction while glancing around.  
“Cloud?” she asks, searching for him while walking. She takes a few more steps before coming to a stop. She looks all around carefully in the full moon-lit area, and sees no sign of her spikey-haired friend. 

In the town of Nibelheim, Cloud is still holding onto the Chocobo with all of his might while it thrashes in the streets, trying to rid itself of its rider. Besides the two of them, the town is silent as it's inhabitants sleep.   
The chocobo continues it's tirade as it goes in a circle around the well, thrusting so harshly that Cloud hits his head on the wooden structure around the well. He moans loudly and falls off the chocobo with a thud on the dirt ground. His head rolls to the side and he falls unconscious as the chocobo continues its running out of the town and toward Mt. Nibel.   
Tifa, having found no sign of Cloud out in the field, walks into the town lit by lanterns. Quickly, she sees Cloud's limp body in the dirt, so she gasps and emerges into a run toward him. “Cloud!” she calls with worry, getting to her knees next to him. She shakes him gently while looking down at his sleeping face. “Cloud, are you okay?”  
“Mmm,” Cloud groans. His eyes blink and he stares up at Tifa's sorrowful face, which slowly moves into a weak smile. “Tifa . . .”  
“Oh, good. You're awake.” She pauses. “What happened?”  
Cloud sits up and shakes his head. “That chocobo was going wild and I hit my head and fell.”  
Tifa sighs. “I think it's time we called it a night.” She stands up and looks toward the inn. “Let's get a room.”  
Cloud struggles to his feet, hurt and exhausted. “I didn't bring any gil. Just the flashlight.”   
Tifa huffs loudly with irritation. “I think I spent most of mine at the bar . . .” She digs in her pocket and only finds forty gil. She shakes her head. “I guess we're sleeping under the well tonight.” 

A few hours pass, allowing the sun to emerge in the sky. A few hours pass, allowing the sun to emerge into the sky. The morning has a nice temperature and the sky is bright and with few clouds. The village is bustling with people walking around the dirt street, with children playing and laughing in front of one of the houses.  
A loud clunk is heard on top of the wooden platform over the well, causing Tifa to jerk and awaken. She blinks three times wearily and soaks in the view of the wooden structure and the dirt ground around her. She looks at her arms and sees Cloud's are against them, so she twists her neck back to see he is lying against her asleep. She grins with amusement and rolls out from under his hold. She turns in his direction and slides to her knees, watching him sleep. Lying next to him is a large, green chocobo feather, so her grin widens as she reaches for it. She takes it into her grasp and aims for Cloud's nose with it when she hears another loud noise come from above. Instinctively, she withdraws her arm from Cloud's face and looks up while he awakens, startled.  
"What was that?" Cloud asks sleepily with his eyes barely open.  
Tifa sneakily slips the feather into her pocket so that Cloud does not see it, and crawls towards the exit of the wooden structure. As she puts her hand out into the bright sunlight, a foot misses it by an inch, the streets crowded. She brings her head down so that she can see outside better, and strategically exits and stands up in the street. She looks up toward the top of the structure, but sees nothing. She shakes her head at it, not convinced.  
"Did you see anything?" Cloud asks, crawling out to meet her.  
"No. Probably just a chocobo," she suggests, then makes a disturbed face. "I hope it wasn't the one from last night . . ."  
Cloud sighs and glances around Nibelheim, seeing again that it looks like a normal village. He looks ahead of him toward the inn and spots a Sephiroth clone hunched over and walking so slowly it is hardly visible. He looks back at Tifa seriously. "I hope it wasn't anything to do with one of those."  
Tifa looks where Cloud had been and sees the clone. "I don't think one of those could even climb up there," she says observantly. "Well, anyway, I guess we might as well have some fun."  
Cloud looks at her questioningly. "Have some fun?"  
“I promised you a really fun time last night, remember? Well, things got out of hand and you're not smiling like I had hoped. I have to make it up to you,” she explains playfully.  
“Everyone's going to be wondering where we are.”  
“They'll be fine. Now,” she says, looking around. “What looks fun to you?”  
“What kind of fun could we have in a corrupt place like this?” Cloud shrugs, a little hint of offense in his voice.   
Tifa turns around and faces what used to be Cloud's home and grins. “Then I'll get us started. I see a good place to start.”   
Cloud stares at his childhood home with a mix of confusion and sadness. He follows behind Tifa toward it, wondering what she has in mind that could be fun in regards to the house. He watches her as she knocks on the door, causing nervousness to build in him that he hides behind his blank facade.   
Tifa giggles and grabs Cloud by the arm as she runs, going in the space between her and Cloud's childhood homes and crouching down behind the barrel. They hear the front door to Cloud's old house open, causing Tifa to cover her mouth with her hand while giggling. Cloud puts his hand on his face and sighs.   
The man who walked out of the house is wearing what appears to be a chef's outfit and his holding a spatula. He glowers at people walking by, searching for the person at fault. He spots three children running back and forth in front of the houses and growls in their direction. Raising his spatula in the air, he yells to them, “Do that again, brats, and I'll have ** you ** for dinner!” He turns and goes back inside, slamming the door shut while the children are left watching in confusion.   
Tifa laughs while using the top of the barrel to push herself up. She sidles back toward the outside wall of the house and away from the street, approaching the window. She looks in, watching the man cook on the stove with his back to her. She looks to her right and sees Cloud watching through the window with her with a hurt look on his face.  
Cloud shakes his head. “I can't believe it. Everyone acting like we're lying. And for a man like that to take my mother's home . . .”  
Tifa looks over into Cloud's eyes, seeing the pain and feeling bad for him. She touches his arm gently to comfort him. “It's messed up, isn't it?”  
Cloud averts his eyes and turns, leaving Tifa's arm idle in the air. “Let's just go back now.”  
Tifa forces a smile. “Go back and miss an opportunity to teach that guy a lesson?”  
Cloud stares ahead toward the street for a moment, pondering. He turns back toward her. “A lesson . . . for being mean to the kids, right?”  
Tifa grins, pleased. “Exactly! For the kids!”  
Cloud smiles and nods. “Yeah. We can't expect to save the Planet if we can't even keep some jerk in line from taking out his anger on children.” Cloud goes back up to the window next to his smiling companion, observing the man again. “Hmm. Any ideas?”  
Tifa laughs. “Of course!”

A couple of minutes later, Tifa is crouched below the window of the house, peeking over the rim of the window to see in. She watches as Cloud sneaks through the interior, moving silently near the resident. As Cloud turns to wave at her, she waves back.   
Cloud has a nervous smile on his face as he sneaks past the man, going toward his cooking supplies sitting on a rack against the wall. He pulls a jar of shredded gysahl greens out of his pocket that Tifa had spent her gil on and holds it in one hand. With his free hand, he takes a jar of parsley, replacing it with the gysahl greens. He jumps back swiftly and quietly as the cooking man turns toward the shelf and grabs the gysahl greens. Cloud watches while suppressing a laugh as he shakes a generous amount of the greens on his steak and potatoes in his plate.  
The blonde scurries off to the side toward the beds now, biting his lip as he grins at them. He now looks behind himself and sees the man is opening the oven with an uncooked pie in his hands. Afraid he may turn around, Cloud falls to his knees and hides under what used to be his bed. He watches from underneath it as he had been right, seeing the man turn around to walk across to the other end of the house with his dinner. Once there, he sits on the couch up the elevated area of the house, next to the globe.   
Still watching through the window is Tifa. She tilts her head so that she can barely see the man, seeing that he seems comfortable on the couch and assumes he will probably sit there until his food finishes cooking in the oven. She looks down at the beds, knowing Cloud will be too afraid to come out from under them in fear that he will get caught. Tifa takes another good look at the interior of the house before pulling away from the window and abandoning the space between the two houses.   
The man stabs a small piece of his meat and a small piece of potato and launches them into his mouth together, both covered in the gysahl greens. He pauses for a second, soaking in the unique taste. He grins dreamily, enjoying it immensely. He stops and looks down at his food joyously. “I have really done it this time! I don't understand ** how ** when I didn't change a thing, but this is the best dinner I have ever made!” He stands up with his plate and raises his free hand up in victory. “The entire village shall know of this!” He passionately rushes through the house with the food and out the door.  
Cloud crawls out from under the bed and stands while eyeing the front door with a freaked-out expression. As he watches, the door comes open, Tifa coming inside. She runs up to him and laughs playfully.  
“This guys is nuts . . .” Clouds says in disbelief. “He ** likes ** it . . .”  
“Then we'll just have to work with that,” Tifa says without worry. She pulls the green chocobo feather out of her pocket, revealing it to Cloud. “I guess I'll get some use out of this after all.”  
“I don't know, Tifa,” Cloud sighs, looking sad again.   
“What?! You were actually enjoying yourself! Stop moping and have some more fun with me! Remember, this is for the children of the Planet we're saving!”  
Cloud sighs again, this time in defeat.

Outside in the street, the man is holding his plate with both hands, turning with it to display it to his neighbors. A couple walking by slow their pace to examine it, the playing children look for only a second before going back to their game, and gossipers change their subject to that of him. He continues making the announcement that he has found the most delicious food ever with a look of desperation on his face over the fact that no one is taking him seriously.   
“I am spreading ultimate kindness by sharing the greatest food ever tasted with you instead of keeping it all for myself!” he proclaims with pain and passion. “You do not appreciate my sacrifice?!”  
“Wow! The greatest food ever?!” Cloud asks with poor acting skills, walking up to him from the outside of the house.   
The man turns toward Cloud with his eyes lit up. “Yes! You must try some!” He holds the plate toward Cloud. “If you like it, I will sell a plate of it to you for half price – 50,000 gil!”  
Cloud fakes a look of excitement as he looks at it. “Wow, what a deal. But what's in it?”  
“Ah, that's a secret!” He replies. He glances around, seeing now that people are watching and becoming more interested.   
“Well, taste it!” a woman in a purple dress and carrying a parasol urges Cloud.   
Cloud looks at the plate with a nervous smile, not wanting to have to take a bite. He hears footsteps behind him and turns to see Tifa coming out the front door of the house with a fake look of anger, relieving him that she ended up having perfect timing after all. He watches as she stands next to him and the cook while looking out toward the townspeople.  
“Oh, a secret! I wonder why!” Tifa yells. She holds up the jar of gysahl greens into the air to show everyone “** This ** is the secret ingredient! Chocobo food!”  
'Ewww's, 'Sicko', and 'That's disgusting' comments are heard around the well tower. Tifa looks toward the man and sees he looks dumbfounded. She lowers the jar and looks at him firmly.  
“What are you doing?!” the man asks with frustration. “Why were you in my house, and where did you get that jar of gysahl greens?!”  
“Where did I get this?! Off your recipe rack!”  
“No, you didn't! I don't even ** have ** any gysahl greens!”  
“Liar! I watched you put it on your food!” Tifa changes her anger to a fake dreamy tone. “I just ** had ** to know your secret! I heard rumors about your cooking in my town!”  
“No! I just put parsley on the food!” He stops from arguing suddenly and looks down at the plate. He realizes the parsley looks odd, and now considers the strange taste and smell of his food. His face morphs into a look of disgust and panic. “Y-you mean . . . I was eating ** chocobo food **?!”  
Cloud shakes his head. “You tried to feed me and sell me something gross!”  
“W-wait! Aren't you two the ones who came through here a couple of days ago and spread lies about this town?!”  
“Better that than tricking people into paying you high gil for bird food!” Tifa argues.   
All of a sudden, there is a loud sound of feet pounding against the ground. Everyone turns their heads to look in the direction of Mt. Nibel. Seconds later, the large green chocobo from last night appears, running straight for the crowd. People start screaming and scattering about in fear as the bird warks and flaps as it runs. The man with the food yells out in terror as the bird comes straight for his food covered in gysahl greens.   
Cloud laughs and takes Tifa by the arm. “Come on!” he calls to her, running with her out of the town.   
Tifa gives a look of shock as she is taken out of the village by her unusually playful friend. She hears him chuckle as they exit, bringing a smile to her face. She feels a warmth in her heart, seeing that she was finally successful in bringing some fun and glee to Cloud for the first time in a long time. 

Epilogue

Cloud and Tifa re-enter Costa del Sol and walk happily together in the direction of the inn where they had left their friends. Tifa nods and smiles as Cloud tells her all about their adventures over the past several hours, his voice energetic and his eyes showing happiness. As much as she would like to point out that her ideas to pull him out of his depression were good, she did not want to do anything that would jeopardize his improvement. She just smiles and enjoys what she has accomplished.  
“About time ya got yo spikey ass back here!” Barrett exclaims, irritated.  
Tifa and Cloud look ahead to see Barrett, Aerith, Yuffie, and Red XIII standing ahead of the inn with their supplies. Barrett and Yuffie look unhappy while Aerith is smiling curiously. Red XIII seems distracted by a beach ball in the distance.   
Yuffie steps forward toward her returning comrades. “Did you two have fun?” she asks with a satisfied grin.  
Cloud shakes his head, his expression now serious. “We had to take care of some Sephiroth clones that made it into town.”  
“Oh, really?” she asks. “In the woods? And under the well in Nibelheim?”  
Cloud and Tifa exchange glances of shock. Tifa looks back to her. “How did you know where we were?”  
Yuffie laughs. “Well, I ** am ** a ninja, after all! And I had to keep an eye on you two and make sure you weren't up to any shenanigans!”  
Cloud raises an arm in realization. “You were the one up in the tree!”  
“And on top of the watch tower!” Tifa adds.  
“Yup!” Yuffie says proudly.  
“But they heard you, Yuffie. You were almost found out,” Aerith points out.   
“Well! What were they up to all night?!” Barrett demands, no longer upset.   
Yuffie crosses her arms while eyeing Cloud and Tifa. “Oh, you know. Like they said, taking care of Sephiroth clones.” Her large grin remains intact.  
Red XIII begins barking at some people in bikinis and speedos, so Barrett, Yuffie, and Aerith turn their attention to the situation. Cloud and Tifa turn away from them and smile at one another at this opportunity. Cloud averts his eyes while still grinning.  
“Tifa . . . thanks,” Cloud says, not able to look her in the eyes. “I . . . had a good time.”  
Tifa smiles warmly. “Me, too.” She sees Cloud meet her gaze now. She looks down as she reaches into her pocket to pull out the green chocobo feather. She holds it up to him. “Here. You should have this. As a reminder of the fun we had.”  
Cloud takes the feather and twirls it in his fingers as he examines it over. It is bright green and appears very soft. He nods and brings his arm back down to his side. “I'll be holding onto this forever.” He gives Tifa a warm smile, and the two now look back in the direction of Nibelheim fondly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! I'm sorry for not being so good with titles. Also being on the time limit, I didn't come up with anything decent in the allowed amount of time. ^^; I hope you enjoy it despite that! I had a lot of fun with this chapter, though I had a lot of writer's block. I hope it doesn't show and it flows okay. Also, no idea if the guy who took over Cloud's old house is actually a chef, but he looks like one to me in that outfit and the fact that he's using the stove when you meet him . . .


End file.
